funfun

I'm not sure if the Chiang-mai mail is doing this guy such a big favor. We know he's French, we know his name and we know how old he is. We also know where his work is being exhibited and sold. Why don't they just paint a big bullseye on him that says "illegal farang working here".

They woundnt need a bullseye on him if he hadnt had a change of clothes for five or six days theyd have smelt him, fancy going out with no money in his pockets but taking his artist stuff! i wonder if he was wearing a berry, silly little french man!

notstickman is still going as well.

That Golt guys a complete tw@t. This is from his latest weekly.

As most of you know, Songkran just passed. Here I am this year doling out some Songkran spirit. Part of my time is spent perched up near my office and dousing the unsuspecting passer by. A friend caught me in the act this year.

What an idiot.

Now I know i'm an old queen who likes to moan but, well, he'd have been better off cleaning his windows with that water, did you see them, fil,fe get, and he hasnt got any curtains, his t-shirts been on his back for a week i'll bet, is there any fashion police over here????

the remaining influence of TRT is overestimated.

and court procedures against thaksin proceed, albeit slowly. he obviously gets nervous. the whole manchester city thingy is a setup to divert attention.

which sane football club wants itself to be bought by a disgraced leader who couldnt even properly explain where the money comes from?

so, if thaksin really gets pushed over the brink, maybe in a last attempt to save himself it will be less costly for him to finance an instigation/coup.

lots of people lost lot of money with the coup. they dont want to lose even more.

if the junta just would speed up things ...

Well when you say "which sane football club wants to be bought by a disgraced leader who coundnt even properly explain where the money comes from"

could we include Leeds Utd in that, maybe not sane but used to bieng double bent and we could do wi some laundered money at the mo!

havent had a good year and everyone says we need a tottally different approach, well im deff sure we'd get that!

I dont think elland road is big enough to land thai air 737's but its right at side of M62!

It is with great sadness that I must announce the closure of a total of 9 Bars in Soi 6 for 60 Days ( not that I go there often, I live next door and walk the dog that way!! ) all have police notices outside.

Which ones and why mate? (no CCTV????)

Hi Brit, No CCTV, no or incorrect licence, I think they had all had at least 1 warning!

CANT GET USED TO THIS DONT KNOW WHERE TO WRITE??

ANYWAY i can only speak for myselfe as i have a bar on soi 6, we were closed for 60 days for not having a bar open licence which i have never heard off, and which i put my hands up is through ignorance on my behalfe, my cashier was kept in overnight till 6am.

Mr basset, i think i do see you walking your dog which is nice to see, the bit about being warned ,is for me, not as in as mutch as the police might have come in to the bar , (as you could), and leave a message for me and to be fair to the staff, i would never get that message in a month of sundays, ive got more chance of getting that message of your dog!!

we have just been to a very important meeting at the town in town from the people at F.A.C.T and every thing came back all the speak the girls talked about was not what it said in the papers i had translated! but im only a newbie here and learning day by day.

But could have been mutch worse, but we, as are others, hoping everyday things may change, to all who love soi 6 there are still about 40 bars to chose from so dont stay away as this will damage the things you like about soi 6! the girls might leave and bars might close, so try call off and have a beer.

many thanks.

chris.

My tourist visa was about to expire so I went to immigration and they extended it for 30 days.

My extension ends at the end of this month, January.

Can I now do 3 same-day boarder crossings at 30 days each (90 days), without applying for a visa? -these are visa exempt entries I believe...

After that, can I apply for a tourist visa somewhere outside Thailand and begin the process again?

I plan to stay in Thailand for a year at least.

I am Canadian.

best and cheapest option (only in my opnion) is head for pennang in malasia, cheap flights but you will need at least one night there as they take your passport in b4 12 in a morning then you get it back the next afternoon after 2pm but i have seen people who have not filled in right and they must return next day so if you have fund book 2 nights.

I fly with air asia cos they do a hotel package on the net but thy might not be cheapest, thai embassy where you go is in georgetown where th nightlife is anyway.

you should get tourist 60 days after this you can at imigration office get 30, then at least 2 x 30 from cambodia maybe three but keep asking when you go it might all change by then and if you go over your 3 as i understand it you will have to leave thailand for 90 days. then repeat it again, good luck mate.

chris

I thought the way it was supposed to work is that you got 90 days, regardless of entry stamps - then 90 out of the country.

I belive that it is 90 days (no matter how many VOA stamps you have) in any 180 day period, rather than 90 days and you're out for 90 days. This would mean that you get a 0/0 start every 180 days irregardless of how many days you have on VOA stamps.

But IMHO this is too far out to try to predict what will actually happen. We're just beginning to see what happens after 90 days on VOA stamps!

its all on what goes down tommorow those poor guys in next couple of days are unfortuatly guina pigs, a proccess we all know and fell sorry for but are helpless to do anything.

Hi, everybody!

We are gay couple from Russia going to stay in Bangkok on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th maybe of January 2007.

We need a guide to show us gay Bangkok after dark.

No sex, no escort or any other payable services needed.

Just spending time in pleasant company.

Please, send messages to the email address

Thank you.

well i havent been to bangkok on a night out but i live in pattaya (about 2 hours drive) which is a coastal city and a very pleasent one, if you need some details of bars hotels and the gay scene id be happy to help, but most of it centres around boys town or day night hotel area and youll find everything easily there.

good luck.

hi im chris from pattaya, i previosly went to pennang for a 2 month tourist visa and just went to phom penh (thai embassy) but they gave me nothing and when i flew back to bkk i got a 30 day with a yellow mark on, im due again on 21 jan and fancy kl are they giving 30 days or 2 months does anyone know. as i dont want 2 yellow stamps.

Many thanks

I have to leave Thaialnd on the 7th January when the 1st stamp on my double entry tourist visa runs out. I have asked in several travel agents in Pattaya, but they want to just take me to the border and tell me to get a taxi. Could anyone give me any advise about the best way to do this. I was thinking of getting an evisa for cambo. And it is Phnom Penh I would like to visit. Thanks. I have left things really late as usual

Map of Central Thailand

If you have any good street maps of towns and cities, in this area, please post them here without comments.

Thanks

udon

i found this quite good http://www.thailandmapfree.com/east.html

pennang_visa_wi_mr_don.doc

Greetings all!

I'm having a little question concerning transportation arrangement to do border-hop to activate another entry of my bf's multientry non imm(O) visa. His visa is valid from september this year till sept next year. He entered Thailand on 13 Oct and on the 1st stamp, it says valid untill 11 Jan, 07 which means he'll have to go out of Thailand before that date, correct? Now the problem is we don't really know where the best place (as in convenient and nearby Thailand) for border hopping would be. Thinking of Malaysia, either KL or Penang. Any other places? And we are not sure bout transportations to get there. Like plane or train and cost and how. And what we need to do to get the 2nd entry activated?

So.. please kindly help us out! A place + transportations guide + processes & documents etc

Your advices are always extremely appreciated!

big THANKS

xxBunnigalxx

i went last time to pennang with a visa agent in soi buckow pattaya it cost 17,000 bhat flight rtn also 1 night hotel , im just booking a 2 night with same hotel (cititel georgetown) with go travel (part of air asia) for just over 10,000 for 2 people.

wonder if anyone can help me before i book, i am english and originally arrived on a voa 30 day.

2 months ago (just short of) i went to malasia (pennang) and got a 60 day to where i want to go very shortly again, so i would like to know if they are still doing 60 days as people tell me they have stopped.

no 2 i want also to take a cambodian friend whom has a passport but will they get a 30 day or 60 day?

if anyone has any advice or can point me in the right direction i would be very gratfull.

thanks chris.

With fear of sounding selfish.... i'm getting quite worried about the weather now. I fly out to Samui on Christmas Day.... all the way from Scotland to meet my pals who are supposed to be getting married today on Samui.

I hope the weather eases soon!!

As i'm sure everyone in SE Asia does.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

well fly for about 50 quid to pattaya its 50 times better than samui and its not raining unlike samui, not samuis fault like cos its rainy season there and if ya dont like rain like me dont go where its raining.

nuff said

Here in America we are assumed innocent until proven guilty.

Unless you happen to be in Guantanamo Bay..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ha ha well funny, i live in england and we have a place called bradford and i just wish it could be scooped up and plonked into guantanamo bay, thats if the north see is closed that day!

thaigene and others,

Where are you knuckleheads from?  Your ignorance about how and why interest is calculated the way it is indicates that you couldn't possible be from the US.

Until the early 60's, all financing, with the exception of mortagages, was done with "add-on interest".  After the murder of a less than honest car dealer, relating to the interest he was charging his customers, the federal government developed "regulation Z" also known as "the rule of 78's" - an incredibly difficult method to calculate the "true" interest rate.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

thaigene and others,

Where are you knuckleheads from?  Your ignorance about how and why interest is calculated the way it is indicates that you couldn't possible be from the US.

Until the early 60's, all financing, with the exception of mortagages, was done with "add-on interest".  After the murder of a less than honest car dealer, relating to the interest he was charging his customers, the federal government developed "regulation Z" also known as "the rule of 78's" - an incredibly difficult method to calculate the "true" interest rate.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I must admit that when Bangkok Bank announced (quietly) that it was willing to loan money to foreigners to buy condos I was interested in finding out more. Now a couple of months later - and a few online and telephone enquries later - still no further ahead (read 'no response').

So..a little frustrated, I've started to lose interest again - and came across this little nugget that's been on this site for a couple of years anyway..it makes the case (mathematically) why it's not wise to buy property/condos in Thailand anyway, and why it is actually cheaper and more logical to rent.

http://www.thaivisa.com/condominium_thailand.0.html (it's a two-parter I think)

So with some money burning a hole in my pocket...the 'new car' bug then bit me - again. So looking at cars in showrooms of both Toyota and Honda (my preferance) piqued interest. "let's talk financing" I said to the saleswoman.

Anyway..she said okay 'let's talk guarantors'. "What?" I said. Yes..doesn't matter whether you're willing to pay 20% down, and are on 100,000 USD per year (which I'm not..) you still need a Thai guarantor..(doesn't matter whether buyer is Thai or foreigner apparently)

But even if you DID have a rich Thai to guarantee..here is how the interest rate works. It's usually 48 or 60 months..at only 2.75 % per annum. Good, isn't it? Well it would be if they'd lend you the cash for one year at 2.75, then recalculate what's owing with another 2.75 the next year, etc....but the trick here is that interest is calculated UP FRONT for the FULL FOUR or SIX YEARS.

So even in year-three you are still paying interest on money you paid back two years earlier..The forumula is (if financing 500,000 baht) like this: (500,000 X .0275) X 6 + 500,000 = 568,750 Baht. So that's 68,750 baht interest. More like double the rate I think (though maybe still not too bad with rates low).

Car repayments therefore are about 13,000 B per month. Since the average professional Thai salary is not much more than that, who's buying?? Must be all those guys with rich Thai Uncles willing to guarantee their loans I guess.

Anyone know if the Bangkok Bank mortgages work on the same rip-off interest calculation? I'd ask them but like I said..they don;t respond..probably think I'm a trouble maker - which of course I am 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

well i read your thing but it wasnt what i was interested in knowing but now i read it im glad i did.

i was hoping if i bieng english and only here for 6 weeks up tp press can own a car or bike.

im told by a tai guy if i buy a scooter i must buy it in a tai name and sure enough hel_l lend me his any one know if any truth in this?